India's Tata Communications Plans to Invest $450 Million to Build a 10,000-Kilometer Fiber Network

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 26, India's Tata Communications announced plans to invest $400 million to $450 million to build approximately 10,000 kilometers of new long-distance fiber network in India for artificial intelligence applications, connecting major domestic data center clusters and AI infrastructure hubs. Named the "AI Superhighway," the project will be implemented in three phases over an estimated construction period of three to five years, focusing on meeting the demand for high-capacity, low-latency data transmission between data centers.

The first phase will connect the four cities of Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, and Chennai, forming a long-distance communications corridor linking major data center clusters in western and southern India. Subsequent phases will extend to India's east coast and emerging data center regions in the west, covering locations such as Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar, Jamnagar, and Gujarat International Finance Tec-City. The new routes will also connect to international submarine cable landing stations and link into Tata Communications' existing global backbone network.

Under the company's implementation plan, the project will be funded from operating cash flow, with fiber laying and network construction carried out in phases. Engineering planning and route design are underway, with construction scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of India's fiscal year 2027, and the specific construction schedule will be aligned with the selection of equipment suppliers. Some routes are expected to begin contributing revenue starting in fiscal years 2028 to 2029.

The fiber network will provide connectivity services to large cloud service providers, AI platforms, data center operators, global capability centers, and financial enterprises. Tata Communications plans to integrate the new long-distance fiber with its existing national long-distance communications network and metro networks, enabling data centers in different cities to exchange data over a unified network and connect to international cloud computing and AI infrastructure. The company will also continue to expand its existing domestic communications network in tandem with the phased construction of the new routes.